Dr. William Sears was born in Alton, Illinois in 1940. He is an American pediatrician and the author or co-author of more than thirty parenting books. He is also a frequent guest on television talkshows, where he goes by the name Dr. Bill. He and his wife Martha Sears, R.N., are among the leading proponents of the attachment parenting philosophy. Together they have written several books explaining in detail the Attachment Parenting method. They developed and collated several theories into the parenting method known as Attachment Parenting. This was done in an effort to support the idea of parents’ intuition and common sense of how to raise their baby.
Dr. Sears own father deserted the family when Sears was just a child. Consequently one of his primary male adult influences was his grandfather. Dr. Sears was a good student who as especially driven toward medicine. After completing medical school, Sears did his residencies at Harvard Medical School’s Children’s Hospital in Boston and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He is also an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine.
Dr. Sears presently serves as a medical and parenting consultant for BabyTalk and Parenting magazines and is the pediatrician on the website Parenting.com. According to his latest biography, he has been a guest on more than 100 television shows including: 20/20, Donahue, Good Morning America, Oprah Winfrey, CBS This Morning, CNN, Today Show and Dateline. Dr. Sears or “Dr. Bill” (as his patients call him) is the author of over thirty books on many different aspects of childcare. Dr. Sears is also a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and a fellow of the Royal College of Pediatricians (RCP).
Dr. Sears and his wife Martha have eight children:James, Robert, Peter, Hayden, Erin, Matthew, Stephen and Lauren. Stephen, their youngest son, has Down Syndrome and daughter Lauren is adopted. Martha Sears is a registered nurse, a former childbirth educator, a La Leche League leader, and a lactation consultant. She has co-authored twenty-five parenting books and is a popular lecturer and media guest. Martha continues to speak frequently at national parenting conferences and is noted for her advice on how to handle the most common problems facing today’s mothers with their changing lifestyles. Dr. Sears and his wife Martha have felt that both their medical background and practical experience of parents of a large family helped them develop the method of Attachment Parenting. In addition to the Sear’s medical practices, three of their children have also become doctors, “Dr. Jim” (the oldest), “Dr. Bob” (second oldest), and “Dr. Pete.” A fourth son, Matt, is currently studying medicine at the University of California-Irvine.
Information taken from his website states that in 1997, Dr. Sears underwent major surgery for colon cancer, followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy. He is presently in remission.
In addition to promoting his methods of Attachment Parenting, Dr. Sears has used his website to promote a nutritional supplement known as Juice Plus. In 2005, the company that was behind the product, National Safety Associates, used his testimonials to promote its product and included ad copy which implied that the “Juice Plus+Gummies” product was low in sugar, and a nutritional alternative to fruits and vegetables. This claim then resulted in consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau’s national advertising division. The Better Business Bureau then issued a complaint that National Safety Associates claims were misleading. As a result, National Safety Associates promised to modify its ads and some doubt was cast on Dr. Sears recommendation of the product.
Records show that as of 2007, Sears lives with his family in San Clemente, California, where he has a private medical practice with his sons.
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